Enraíza PPA Announces New Socioenvironmental Impact Projects

The focus is territorial development and impact business strengthening

April, 2023 – Developing sustainable businesses in the Legal Amazon, working with artisanal fishing, strengthening agroextractive workers, and empowering women are some of the projects under the new Enraíza PPA: For Sociobiodiverse & Sustainable Amazons initiative.

The call for projects was launched by the Partnership Platform for the Amazon (PPA) under a strategic partnership with USAID/Brazil and the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. The six winning projects were announced this month with approximately R$5 million in investments.

In the Strengthening Businesses with Social and Environmental Impact category, the selected projects are Lab de Impacto - Nosso jeito de potencializar negócios and Carbono Insetting in Amazon communities.

Under Territorial Development, the winning projects are: Semeando a Sustentabilidade: Fortalecimento Territorial, Inclusão e Empoderamento de Mulheres Agroextrativistas para a Agenda da Bioeconomia no Amapá; Desenvolvimento Sustentável Territorial no Sudeste Paraense; Revitalização do Extrativismo da Borracha no Amazonas: Inclusão de dimensões da sociobioeconomia na indústria de pneus; and Pesca para Sempre.

“In addition to being an effective instrument to leverage resources, catalyze change, and engage organizations that are actively present in the region, "Enraíza PPA" will enable us to support partners who already have considerable local knowledge and experience. We are strongly committed to the sustainability and improvement of these initiatives,” says Denyse Mello, PPA project manager. 

Additional details – Lab de Impacto  is a pre-acceleration program led by Impact Hub ManausIt focuses on sustainable business development in the Legal Amazon. The program provides access to mentoring, networking opportunities, and impact training, in addition to promoting investor engagement and new investment accelerators.

Carbono Insetting, whose implementing partner will be cosmetics company Natura, aims to increase carbon compensation initiatives in agro extractivist communities in the Amazon in order to keep the forest standing and reduce deforestation.

The Semeando a Sustentabilidade project is an initiative run by Brazil's International Education Institute (IEBand private sector partners focused on empowering agroextractive women engaged in the bioeconomy agenda in the state of Amapá.

The southeastern region of the state of Pará will be the focus of the Desenvolvimento Sustentável Territorial project, an initiative run by the Association of Small Rural Producers of Colônia Sapucaia together with paper company Suzano. In total, 13 community organizations and about 420 families are expected to benefit from the initiative. 

In an effort to develop strategies to strengthen links in the latex extraction chain, four entities are part of the Together for Extractive Rubber in the Amazon initiative. The project results from a partnership between the Michelin Foundation and the WWF Network, and is supported by the National Council of Extractive Populations (CNS) and the Chico Mendes Memorial. 

Latex extractive activities are interspersed throughout the year, and extraction is usually executed during the dry season. Rubber production involves the management of native rubber trees in the Amazon, through manipulation and production processes that do not result in degradation (more information here). 

The Pesca para Sempre project, promoted by Rare Brasil and the Humanize Institute, supports the governance of artisanal fishing with a focus on the scale of solutions in 12 municipalities that are part of coastal extractive reserves in Pará. About 560 families are expected to benefit from the project. 

More information is available on PPA website.